


Life is Normal - ish!

by Life_is_HELLA_strange



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game), pricefield - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Is even more fun, Maxine "Max" Caulfield Still Has Powers, Messing with Nathan and Jefferson, Messing with time is fun, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2020-01-10 22:42:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18417374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Life_is_HELLA_strange/pseuds/Life_is_HELLA_strange
Summary: It starts off as a normal day. You know the kind, where you wake up, go to the school you're suspended from to blackmail the local psycho for cash. Meet a strange time traveler who saved your life from said psycho and proceeded to blow your mind with her trippy amazeballs powers. Yeah that kind of normal day...POV changes made.





	Life is Normal - ish!

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, another new one here. A little bit more game plotline but not much. Mostly Chloe and Max messing around and having fun together, with some of the other characters coming along for the ride. Some willing and some not so much.  
> Not sure how often it will get an update but it won't get left for dust. Hope you enjoy...

‘ _Well, here I am at Craphell, to do the meet with that fucked-up freak Nathan Prescott.’_ Chloe mutters internally to herself as she looks out onto the foreboding Blackwell building. 

‘ _I text the creeper and told him to meet me in the girl’s bathroom.And he better have my cash or everyone finds out what an even more messed up sleaze he is!’_

"Ok Chloe ok... You got this... Just go in there and show him you mean bidness... He pays up or he’s done! You can't be pushed around by him, you won't be." 

Chloe takes a couple of deep breaths then puts her game face on. She jumps out of her truck, door slamming shut behind her. 

_‘I’ve just gotta avoid the step-douche, I really don't want to have to deal with his shit today!_ ’ 

Trying to be the most inconspicuous she can be, with her blue hair and reputation, Chloe starts to make her way across campus to the girls bathroom. Her heart is beginning to race, palms starting to sweat and she can sense an air of trepidation... 

*** 

‘ _Right so, blue haired girl enters talking smack and rich shit Prescock comes in and starts rambling, then, then..._ ’ Max mumbles to herself as she tries to put the pieces together. 

“Argh... Come on, think Max think! It only just happened." She knocks her head a little to try and get it to wake up and work, "I really need to sleep, my head is killin' me... ugh, I can’t really remember what I was doing in here. Was I smoking or something because I'm all fuzzy right now? And I’m so tired, I feel like I didn’t sleep last night, maybe even for a few nights. Dog, I hate not being able to remember what I’ve been doing! Last time I felt like this I ended up in a different state and the timeline had changed. But I can’t remember what I’d done..." 

‘ _Hmm, maybe I was bakin' in here? I guess it’s a good thing if I was doing that because otherwise there would have been a dead girl right now, so concentrate Max!_ ’ 

‘ _Alright, alright, Prickscott comes in first, yeah, then pulls a gun on the angry blue haired girl. Yeah ok, that sounds right—_ ‘ 

Max suddenly gets knocked from her ramblings by two voices. 

"Hey... Put that thing down... You're gonna get in hella more trouble for this than drugs..." The blue haired girl in question starts to shout a little, shock and fear noticeable in her voice. 

‘ _Damn it, concentrate Max and stop talking to yourself. She’s going to get shot again now!_ ’ 

Max moves from the back of the toilets as the guy loses his shit, "No one would even miss your punk ass, would they?" 

"Get that gun away from me, PSYCHO!" The girl shouts and pushes him back but then the gun goes off. 

Max is quick to rewind time, to the point that the girl hasn’t entered the bathroom yet and guys back is to her. She then freezes it in place. 

“Wowser! My head is pounding and I’m really starting to feel it.” Max mutters with a grimace and then grits her teeth, pain ebbing through her as she fights against the timeline trying to right itself. 

She places her hand on the side of Nathan’s head and lets time flow forward again. 

"... You got thi—" He doesn't get to finish his ramblings because Max, with every bit of strength she has, pushes his head into the wall and he crumbles to the floor. 

"Control that mother fucker! Wowser, that felt so good doing that to you." She snarls at his passed-out body. She then kneels on the ground and pats him down for his gun. 

"What the actual fuck!?!" 

Max startles slightly when she suddenly hears the blue haired girl gasp in shock. 

‘ _I kinda forgot about her coming in for a moment. You really need to use your brain and concentrate more Max!_ ’ 

"You need to get out of here now." She tells the girl as she pulls the gun out. 

"What the hell did you... just..." Chloe starts to question before her eyes land on the gun. She gasps again, eyes going wide. "Woah! Dude, hey. I'm going..." 

Max sees the blue haired girls eyes shifting from the gun and to herself a number of times, hands raising a little as they do. 

She quickly puts it in the back of her pants and tells her, "I'm not gonna shoot you. He would have though. But you need to get out of here before the Dickscott wakes up. Just send him a text and make out you don't want to meet after all for his, 'Hella cash' or whatever it was. Be smarter if you want a psycho’s money. You're better than the psychotic freak here." Max nudges Nathan’s body with her foot. 

"How do you know I—" Chloe starts to question. 

However, Max doesn’t let her finish for fear of Nathan waking up. "Look, as much as I would love to explain, I can't. And you need to leave. You don't want him knowing you were in here. Just trust me when I tell you it's not safe to blackmail the Asscott prick!” 

The blue haired girls eyes widen hearing that. 

‘ _It would be funny,_ ’ Max thinks to herself, ‘ _if I hadn't just watched this girl bleed out on the shitty bathroom floor. That terror in her eyes and voice, to the image of her dead and lifeless body. It actually makes me feel a little queasy and really fucking angry_.’ 

"Ok, you're kinda freaking me out!" Chloe says to the girl who is looking at her with these sad intense eyes, like she’s in pain. She puts her hand on the door, "I should tha—no, you know what, I'm outta here. This shits hella weird!" And with that, she makes a hasty exit. 

"Yeah, you don’t need to tell me that. Weird shit is my normal!” Max mutters with a heavy sigh... 

*** 

With haste, Chloe shoves her hands into her pockets and keeps her head down as she darts across campus for her truck. 

As soon as she gets to it, she jumps in and grips the steering wheel tight. She takes a few deep breaths as she tries to process what just happened. 

"What the actual fuck did just happen?! Who the hell was that girl and how did she seem to know why I was there? Although she did seem vaguely familiar. Someone from my childhood maybe, or I'd seen at school? Ugh, I'm so confused!" 

‘ _I can't believe that hella punk-bitch Dickscott haha... that's a good name for him, brought a goddamn gun with him to meet me. And that weird girl said he would have shot me and it's not safe for me to blackmail his sorry ass. But how the hell could she know that and why was she there anyway?_ ’ 

"She acted like she knew I was gonna be there and didn't seem surprised when I turned up... But that's crazy, right? How could she? I sure as hell didn't tell anyone and I know Freakscott wouldn't have told anyone either. Not with why I was blackmailing him for what he done to me..." 

Chloe lets out a frustrated growl, having no clue what’s going on. 

“And I didn’t even get my cash. What a hella shitter!" 

With a heavy sigh, she starts up the engine and pulls out of the parking lot and starts down the road. 

‘ _I keep hearing that strange girl telling me he would have shot me. Whatever the hell she meant by that because she couldn’t know._ ’ 

"Did she save me before he could have done something to me? I just don't know what to think..." 

Chloe shivers uneasily at the tone and words the girl used, the thought that maybe she could have died in that bathroom... 

*** 

As Chloe drives around, which she’s been doing for about fifth-teen minutes now. Her mind is constantly going back to that girl and what happened in the bathroom. 

‘ _Her words keep going around and around in my thoughts, like some kind of ominous warning. Also, what was she doing in there? How did she get Nathan on the floor and unconscious like that? She’s hella small and looks like she wouldn’t know how to use a bad word, let alone knock someone out. Ugh, it's making my head hurt trying to work all this—_ ‘ 

"HOLY SHIT!!!" Chloe suddenly screeches and slams down hard on the brakes. 

She stares wide eyed as she watches that strange girl, who she nearly just run over, as she pants with her hands on the truck hood. 

The other girl looks to Chloe through the windshield with this deliriously happy grin. But then she looks over to where she came from. 

Chloe watches as the girl looks back to her with that same grin before she takes off running across the road, laughing loudly, and then darts into the tree line. 

"What the fuck!?" Chloe mutters completely bemused. She then notices a couple of guys bolt out of the bushes, the girl must have come from, and dart across the road, obviously chasing her. 

"Who the hell is that girl?!" 

Chloe sits in her truck totally confused and bewildered at what she just saw. 

‘ _How the hell did that very strange and kinda intriguing girl get all the way out here, that fast and on foot it looks like? I don’t understand what’s—_ ‘ 

She’s rudely torn from her thoughts by a couple of loud horn blasts as a car drives around her truck and flips her off shouting something. 

She flips 'em off back with a “Fuck you!” thrown in and begins driving down the road again, even more confused than she was before... 

*** 

"Haha... Wooo, phew..." Max bends over, panting heavily, with her hands on her knees, "That was so fun..." 

After catching her breath she stands up straight and starts to make her way up the path. 

Once she gave those guys the slip, she ended up at the lighthouse trail. 

‘ _I haven't been here in such a long time, years in fact. The last time was before we moved away from Arcadia Bay and left for Washington and dad's stupid new job._ ’ 

"What a load of crap that turned out to be!" 

Max lets out a sigh as she reaches the top. She takes a moment to look out over the really beautiful sight before her. The sun is shining bright, casting the usually blue sky in a wash of oranges, yellows and shades of warming golds. 

“It’s so breathtakingly peaceful here. It always was...” 

She then settles herself on the cool grass, legs dangling over the edge of the cliff as she leans back onto her hands. 

‘ _It's so weird being back here and yet it's not as well. Nothing seems to have changed, it's still all so familiar. All the sights and smells, even the people don't seem to have changed, just me I guess._ ’ 

She lays down and holds her hand up against the sky, "You are definitely different though... my lifeline and savior... like my best friend, my only friend you could say..." She snorts a sarcastic laugh at herself. “I've really got to stop talking to my hand. You're such a loser! It's no wonder you have no friends Max... You're a weirdo and made even weirder with your very own piece of time." 

She sways her hand back and forth slowly across the face of the sun with a sad sigh. 

"You and me, just like always." Max says quietly before closing her eyes and drops her hand to her side. 

"Sooo, d'you want to be alone with your friend ooor..." 

Max startles to the sound of a voice and slowly opens her eyes. 

Standing above her with an amused smirk, as she looks down at the startled Max, is the blue haired girl from the bathroom. 

"You got room for a third then?" Chloe snickers a little at her own teasing of the wide eyed girl below her. 

"Do whatever. I can't stop you." Max replies with an awkward shrug, feeling slightly embarrassed at getting caught talking to herself. 

She closes her eyes again as the other girl sits down next to her. They fall into silence together for a little while after. 

Chloe, feeling a little uneasy at the silence, decides to break it first. “Soo, what's your name?" 

"Max." 

"You got a last name strange girl or is that it?" 

Max opens her eyes a little and glances to the other girl, who in turn looks away. 

"Caulfield." She simply replies before closing her eyes again. 

"Cool cool... Well since you asked I'm Price, Chloe Price." 

"Ok, Price Chloe Price." 

‘ _We both fall silent again after that and it's kinda nice,_ ’ Max muses to herself. ‘ _Just the quiet sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks beneath, the birds squawking as they fly overhead, to the soft rustling of the trees that can be heard. I missed this kind of quiet and calmness when we moved away, never really finding a place to just be..._ ’ 

"So, Max Caulfield. Since we've got to know each other really well, first name basis and everything. How's about you tell me what the whole bathroom situation was?" 

"Wow. Took you longer than I thought it would to ask me." Max looks over and sees the girl frowning a little at her. She chuckles and looks up at the sky, simply replying, "Blazin'." 

In disbelief, Chloe questions, "Blazin'! You, really?" 

"Yes really. We can't all look like the cover of manga.com, now can we?" 

Chloe’s frown deepens at that, feeling a little wounded from the comment. "Hey! Fuck you!" Which has this Max girl laughing. 

They fall silent again for a moment before Chloe decides to break it. “You not gonna tell me why you were beating on the freak? Not that I care he’s gettin' his ass kicked, I would’ve hella loved to have seen it. But you being there, knowing stuff and a couple of the things you said, it kinda freaked me out." 

Max looks to her, "You gonna tell me why you were blackmailing one of the richest and biggest fucked up psycho’s out there? Well, in the bay that is." 

"No." 

"And there's my answer." 

"Fine, whatever!" Chloe grumbles then blows a puff of air through her lips before she continues, "You're not real big with the talkin' and shit, are you?" 

"Nope." 

Max watches the girl shift her legs up to her chest and then wrap her arms loosely round them when she says that. It makes her feel a little bad and she lets out a sigh. 

"Sorry... I'm just not much of a talker. I've never really been big on talking to others I guess." 

Chloe bobs her head a little in agreement, "That's cool, I can get that. I'm the same—" 

"Really?" Max, disbelieving, cuts in with her eyebrow raised. 

"Yeah really. Why?" 

"You just seem to talk quite a lot. I mean since you got here you've been asking questions or talking to try and fill the dead air." 

Chloe huffs with frustration when she says that and goes to get up but stops herself. ‘ _I want some answers and she is the only one who can give me them._ ’ 

"I wouldn't be talking so much to fill the hella awkwardness if you spoke or said something other than a one-word answer. You've confused the fuck out of me with what happened in the bathroom and saying he would have shot me! You also didn't seem surprised I was there. How could you know all that?" 

Max closes her eyes with a heavy sigh before she opens them to look up at the sky. “Ok look, I know you want answers but I really can't tell you any of that—" 

"Why?" 

"For one, I don't know you and two, you really wouldn't believe me." 

"How do you know I won't believe you if you don't tell me?" 

"Trust me, you won't." 

"Ugh, you're really hard work, you know that?" Chloe tells her with an edge of annoyance in her tone. 

It gets a shrug from the other girl as if she doesn't give a shit. "I do. Like I said, I don't usually talk to others." 

"Or maybe others just don't want to talk to you 'cos you're a grade A brooding weirdo who talks to herself!" Chloe blurts out with anger and saw Max wince a little when she called her a weirdo. 

‘ _That wasn't cool Chloe, you ass!_ ’ 

Max looks away, feeling a little hurt from the comment. “Maybe I don't care because people are assholes unless you tell them exactly what they want to hear. I'm not here to stroke their ego's or yours. And I didn't ask you to come and talk to me. You came over just to get information, that's it. So, no need for the small talk." 

Chloe noticed the hurt in the other girls tone when she said all that and it makes her feel like an even bigger ass, even though Max was being hard work. 

‘ _She’s right, I did come over and start asking questions for myself, just to get answers and she's also right that we don't know each other._ ’ 

Chloe sighs heavily and stands up, "Sorry. That wasn't cool of me to say that to you... And you're right, I saw you and thought I could get answers out of you. I couldn't help it, you hella freaked me out, dude! I don't understand what happened today. But I was also glad I saw you here too because you kind of intrigued me as well as confused the hell out of me." 

Chloe waits to see if Max will say anything back to her, but she doesn’t. So, she shoves her hands in her pockets and starts to make her way back down the lighthouse path. Dejected and annoyed at herself for what she said and she is still confused about the events in the bathroom... 

When she gets to the bottom of the path She sees that girl, well Max, sat on the fence to the gate. Chloe stops in her tracks seeing her. 

‘ _What the actual fuck! How the hell did she get here before me? Did I fall asleep on the way down here? There’s just no way she could’ve beat me._ ’ Chloe, completely bewildered and shocked questions to herself. 

Max looks up and smirks at the face of confusion and wide eyes of the other girl. 

She hops off the fence as Chloe starts to walk towards her. 

"How did you—" 

“You took your sweet time. You're quite slow for someone with such lanky legs. Did you stop on the way down here?" Max teases amused. 

"What?!!" 

“It doesn't matter..." Once Max settles down, she shifts and looks about, feeling a little uncomfortable as she says, "Ok, I'm sorry for being so standoffish to you. It's just, I mean, we've only just met and you were asking stuff that I don't know if can give you the answers to because I don't know if I can trust you." 

Chloe knits her eyebrows together, "Trust me?" 

"Yeah. The last person I told, they, ugh, were so freaked out by what I told them and then they fucked me over. I had to take it all back. That was the last person I really ever trusted. Easier to say fuck you to the world than make friends in it." 

Chloe watches the other girl and sees how uncomfortable she looks and could hear, was it hurt or something, when she said that? But thinks she understands what she means. 

"I haven't exactly got anyone I could go off and talk to about you, not that I would. I had a friend, well who I thought was a friend anyway, for about a year or so. We were gonna leave this shithole, that was the plan I thought. But she was just using me and had been from the start. When she found some dude that had changed her life and could get her out of here. She ditched me, just like that, like I was nothin' and left without me. I only found out through other people at school when I was asking around if anyone had seen her. I felt like the biggest dick in the world..." 

‘ _I can feel my anger building the more I talk about that and it's the first time I've told anyone and a stranger is the first one I tell._ ’ 

Feeling a little embarrassed about what she just said, Chloe mumbles, "Sorry, I couldn't seem to stop my mouth once I started talking." 

"Hey, it's totally cool. You don't need to apologize. People are assholes, as I said and fuck you over. I guess I shouldn't say that about everyone 'cos that might not be the case..." Max looks to Chloe when she says that last bit, gauging whether to trust her or not. She really does want to trust someone again. "But anyway. If you want to know more, then I'm going to do a few things to see how you react to them and see if you're trustworthy. That cool with you?" 

Chloe crosses her arms, a little nervous, but kind of intrigued, "What you gonna do? You're not gonna tie me up and rob me, are you?" 

Max snorts a laugh, "No I'm not going to rob you, Chloe." 

"What about tie me up?" She asks with a smirk. 

"I can tie you up if you'd like? But it's probably not going to be in the way you would want." Max retorts with a smirk of her own. 

"You never know." 

Max rolls her eyes but with a hint of a smile. "Right so, this is gonna be like a test of—" 

Chloe groans, “You should know I hella hate tests Max. It's one of the many reasons I’m suspended from school at the moment." 

"I bet you hate a lot of things. Especially if you're being told what to do." 

"That all depends what I'm being told to do Max and who by." Chloe retorts back in a playful tone. 

She then watches amused as Max raises her eyebrow and sees a slight blush to her cheeks. 

‘ _Mmm that's cute and a good reaction too, I like it._ ’ Chloe muses. ‘ _I'd say that's 1 - 0 to Price..._ ’ 

‘ _Wowser! Ok, she thinks a lot of herself, even if that smirk is quite cute. No Max, focus on the task at hand. She's a player obviously and taking the piss out of you._ ’ 

But Max can’t help herself and decides to see the other girls reaction when she turns the flirting back on her. 

‘ _I do have my get out of jail free card if I need it._ ’ 

"Ok then Chloe, you want to play. I dare you to kiss me—" 

Chloe’s eyes widen, almost unbelieving at what the other girl just said, and can only manage a stuttered, "W-what?!" As a reply. 

Max, amused by this, pushes a little more. "You heard me. I'm telling you to kiss me." 

With her cheeks blushing, Chloe flusters a response, "What, I erm... I'm not that easy Max." And crosses her arms as she averts her eyes. 

"Yeah, that's what I thought. All front and no follow through." 

Chloe looks back to Max and eyes her for a moment until she starts snickering, so she narrows her eyes at her. She goes to retort but Max raises her hand up and rewinds back before any of that was said. 

"... what I’m told to do Max and who by." 

"Uh huh, I'm sure. But no." Max replies dryly and sees Chloe’s smirk faulter a little and she looks embarrassed, disappointed even. 

Max wonders if the other girl isn’t used to people not reacting to her the way she wants, or she really did like her blushing and kind of wanted her flirting back. 

"Yo dude, we doing this or what?" 

"Hmm? Oh yeah, right.” 

Chloe raises an amused eyebrow at the strangely intriguing girl in front of her. "Maybe you are a blazer. You're a total zoner dude! You just look like a timid little mouse." 

Max frowns. "Just because someone doesn't stand out in the most obvious ways, like you, to get noticed. Doesn’t mean they don't bake. I prefer to not be seen, thanks." 

"That's bull!" 

"What, how would you know?" 

"I saw you running from those two guys, remember? And you looked absolutely ecstatic. You obviously hella liked gettin' noticed then." 

Max waves her off, "Oh please, that was just good fun. Who doesn't want to piss off a couple of jobsworths security guards, who decide you don't belong in the store, with the stuck-up snobs?" 

Chloe starts laughing at that, "No way, really? What store was it?" 

"Some elitist place that just opened up in the mall. It had like three things on display on the shelves. I was just going to walk past but the stuck-up shop girl gave me a sneer, as if to say, keep on walking you don't belong here. So I thought, yeah, fuck you and decided to piss 'em all off." 

"That's hella awesome dude—" Chloe starts laughing loudly at that but then abruptly stops and looks at Max with a strange expression. “Wait! How the hell did you get from Blackhell, to the Mall and then to where I nearly run you over, in like fifth-teen minutes? I couldn't have drove that in fifth-teen minutes." 

Max laughs nervously, "Oh shit! Ok look, that can all be explained in a second. But only if you pass the tests. Otherwise you won't remember any of this and I'll leave as if nothing was said. No harm done." 

"What? That don't make no sense. How you gonna do that?" 

"Well, if you play the game you might find out." 

"Oh, so now it's a game? But fine, I'll play." Chloe tries to sound bored but she can feel herself straining not to smile and she’s also excited at the mention of a game. 

"Yeah, a game seemed more suited to you than a test." Max teases a little, glad that they’re laughing and watches Chloe’s smile break which makes her chuckle. "Right so, now we're gonna play. For starters I want you to give me your beanie—" 

"My beanie, why? You tryin' to get me out of my clothes?" 

Max rolls her eyes. “Yes Chloe, that's what I'm trying to do." 

"There are easier ways to do it, Max." Chloe retorts with that same smirk and playful flirty tone. 

"Yes, I bet there is." 

Chloe grins at that and Max finds herself smiling. 

"Fine, I'll steal your clothes later. But first, beanie." 

"Mmm, I'll hold you to that." 

"Stop stalling and give it up!" 

Chloe hesitantly takes her prized beanie off and hands it over to the other girl, and suspiciously watches her. 

Max takes the beanie then starts to walk over to the fence. 

“Hey, where you goin?" 

Max hops up onto the fence before she answers, "I'm about to start blowin' your mind! Price Chloe Price." 

"You should know I'm not easily impressed, Caulfield." 

“Yes, I bet you're not... Oh, what's your age and have you got a middle name?" 

"What, why?" 

"Just humor me and stop asking questions." 

"You're pushin' it dude! But fine, I'm nineteen and it's Elizabeth." Chloe grumbles. 

"Huh, really? That's cute." 

"Fuck off it isn’t cu—" 

Max doesn’t wait for the rest of the comment and raises her hand to rewind instead. 

"... Mmm, I'll hold you... to... What the hell! How did you get over there?" Chloe starts to ask, bewildered with wide eyes of awe as she looks at the other girl. 

Max watches amused and feeling a little proud of herself at the reaction, especially when Chloe’s wide eyes shift to the beanie she’s spinning around. 

Chloe quickly pats her head for her beanie but it's not there. She stares at Max in utter disbelief at her sitting over there with it. 

With awe and amazement she asks, "Holy shit! You're a ninja. How did you do that? That's hella cool dude!" 

Max grins happily, pride rising inside. "All in good time Chloe ELIZABETH Price, who is nineteen. But just you wait it’s going to get better." 

"Haha... Wait, what? How do you know my middle name and age?" 

"You told me." Max says calmly. 

Chloe thinks for a moment but doesn’t remember telling her that. “I call bullshit! You checkin' up info about me?" 

"Hardly. I didn't even know who you were until you told me up at the lighthouse." 

‘ _I'm so confused right now. I mean, I know I told her I was Chloe Price up at the lighthouse. But how did she know the other stuff and get over there with my beanie?_ ’ 

While Chloe wracks her brain to try and figure this out, Max asks, "So, the death trap, you call a truck, is parked over there, yeah?" She points behind herself. 

"Yeah why? Hey, that's my baby. And she’s no death trap dude! She stopped in time from running you over, didn't she?" 

Max snorts a laugh, "Wow, ok. I beg forgiveness for disrespecting your girl." 

"Whatever dude! Why you asking about my truck, anyway?" 

"You’ll see in a moment. Come with me." 

"Fine." Chloe mock grumbles but very willingly follows her, even more intrigued to see what she is gonna do next. 

When they get to the parking lot, Max stops and turns around to face the other girl. “Right. Go and open your truck up." 

"Ugh... This better be hella good Max." Chloe retorts, trying to sound bored but she can't help feeling excited. 

"That all depends on your definition of good. But we'll see because knowing you, you're going to want fireworks." 

This makes Chloe laugh as she turns and walks away, "We only met today and you already know me so well." 

She makes her way to the truck and unlocks it, then turns back to the other girl, "Alright. Now what?" 

"Now I'm gonna go to work and snoop around your girl to try and wow you." 

"So, your idea of wowing someone, is to snoop around their private and highly secret stuff, while they're watching you do it?" 

"Really Chloe? Highly secret and private. I'd be surprised if I find anything other than a disease in there. It looks worse inside the truck than out of it." 

"Shut it! And stop bad mouthin' my truck." 

‘ _I watch this weirdly intriguing girl start to rummage through my bits, ha rummage through my bits, that's a good one! I'll have to remember that. I'm wondering what she is gonna do though and why she’s doing this. Maybe this is how she got my name and that? No, she would have had to break in and I just unlocked it. I dunno what to think about..._ ’ 

Once Max finishes her detective work she gets out the truck. “Ok, I'm finished." 

Chloe looks at her confused, "What, that's it? So, you did just want to root through my stuff then!" 

Max rolls her eyes then raises her hand... 

"... you already know me so well." 

"Right then Price—" 

"Jesus Max!" Chloe jumps at the other girl suddenly being in front of her, "How d'you move so fast? You were just over there, behind me." 

"Super powers." Max teases or is being serious, Chloe is unsure. 

"Now, I'm going to tell you a few things that are tucked away in your truck, ok?" 

"Dude, you got x-ray vision? I don't even know what's in there." 

"No. Although you are getting warmer. But mine is so much cooler!" 

"Huh?" Is all Chloe can get out, not understanding what Max meant by that. 

"Nothing Chloe. You'll see soon enough. So, truck?" 

"Oh right, I'll go unlock it." 

"No need." 

"But you wanted me to unlock it though." 

"That will come in a minute. So, you ready?" 

"Sure. I'm prepared to be amazed." Chloe can barely contain her excitement, even though she has no clue what’s about to happen. 

Max takes a nervous breath, hoping she remembers everything and doesn’t just make a fool of herself. "Ok, you have about 11 unpaid parking tickets in your glove box. I got bored of counting them so that's why it's about 11\. Some that are dated back months ago and a couple of dates are 06.14.2013... at 10:34 and 09.03.2013 at 23:22. You should really pay them. A number for parking in disabled spots, which is so not cool—" 

"How could you... You know what, I'm not gonna ask. What else is in there?" Chloe asks as she tries in vain to not show her excitement but it's not happening. 

Max can feel herself starting to relax a little as it seems Chloe is intently intrigued by what she is saying. So she carries on, “A scuffed-up pencil case with the pink power ranger on it. I thought you would have gone for blue, but meh..." 

‘ _Damn, I forgot about that being in there. What else have I forgot about? Shit!_ ’ 

"You have a few different coloring pens in it, a black marker and a couple of charcoal pencils, which is cool. I like charcoal drawings. It’s a hard skill to master. You must be good at it?" 

Chloe shrugs a little embarrassed, "I'm ok, I guess. Haven't done it in a while though." 

"Being modest. I bet you're good..." 

‘ _Ok, now I can feel myself blush a little at that but Max doesn't seem to notice, thank god! Probably because she’s gone supersonic at rolling things off to me._ ’ 

"Hmm, what else you got? Oh, there's like a million used tissues in there. What's up with that?" 

"Erm, I just wiped my hands and mouth on 'em after eatin'. That's all." 

"Well it's kinda gross. But at least that's what they're used for and not something else." Max smirks with her eyebrow raised at the wide eyed girl in front of her. 

‘ _Ok, now I'm really blushing and my eyebrows feel so high up my head right now, they might as well not be attached to my face!_ ’ Chloe mumbles internally. 

"It’s not what... I mean I don't know what you’re on about." 

Max starts laughing at that as she says really pleased with herself, "Yes, I'm sure you don't." 

She calms herself down and Chloe hopes to hell she doesn't say anything else about that. 

"Ah but anyway. I found some loose change, eighty-six cents to be exact—" 

"Livin’ it large in Arcadia Bay. I’m rich as fuck. This is gettin' good Max! Something else in there?" 

"Some letters, that I didn't read by the way, not my place, a few really good drawings, like REALLY good. A bobbing Elvis, skateboard mags and comics... An old flat lookin’ blunt, some moldy roaches, one musty ass blanket and a hoard of trash. There’s a cute photo, which I'm taking a guess is you from when you were younger and your dad, maybe? You remind me of someone I used to know. Like from when I was getting picked on. What with your long strawberry blonde hair, you seem familiar, just like that color blue your hair is now. You keep giving me that deja vu feeling and it’s like I should know you or I do, especially from that cute photo of you. I don’t know how to describe it... Other than that, not much else to be found in there. I'm kinda disappointed really. I thought it would’ve been a lot more exciting." 

‘ _I'm kind of stuck on the cute part and the thinking I looked familiar like that. I had the same thing with her earlier. I don't know, maybe it's nothing. Kids do all kind of look alike, I guess. But every now and then she looks familiar to me now, like she said, it’s as if I should know her. It’s weird, like memories that I can’t quite reach._ ’ 

Chloe shakes her head a little to push those thoughts away and focus on now. "Let’s see if you got any of that right then. I don't see how you could, 'cos I don't know what's in there myself really." 

‘ _I’m still trying hella hard to hide my bouncing excitement, but it’s virtually impossible. This is crazy good and I still have no clue what’s happening right now!_ ’ 

As Chloe walks over to her truck Max calls in an amused tone, "Oh, and something else I found in there..." 

Chloe turns around to look at Max and sees her face is as amused as her tone was. 

"Just under your side of the seat, a pile of dirty mags and something wrapped up in some of those nasty, crispy tissues. I found what I thought was the reason for all those gross tissues of yours. I'm hopin—" 

"Oh shit! You didn't?!!! Fuuckfuckfuck..." Chloe shrieks, completely mortified and runs over to her truck and tries the door, but it's locked. 

She fumbles with her keys as she hears Max laughing at her. She quickly unlocks the truck, pulls the door open, then jumps in. She dives right down and under her seat but as she does Max hops in... 

Chloe is completely freaking out right now and Max almost feels sorry for her. But she can't help laughing loudly, especially when Chloe turns to her with the reddest face, she thinks she’s ever seen as she scowls at her 

"It's not mine. I erm mean, I don't know what you're talking about, whatever is under my seat. Someone must have put it there." 

This just furthers Max’s laughter, at the feeble excuses, which has Chloe groaning, "This is hella embarrassing!" She then slinks outta the truck and starts walking away. 

‘ _Ok, I've had my fun, I'll let her have her dignity back and rewind..._ ’ 

"... If you got any... of that... Max? Hey Max, where you at?" Chloe shouts and looks around confused at not seeing her anywhere. 

Max presses on the horn a couple of times, then sits back and waits for her to come over. She watches her, in the rearview mirror, jog over. 

When Chloe gets to the truck, she stares at the other girl through the window, with wide eyes and her mouth agape. 

Max chuckles at her expression and as she tries to open the door, a few times, but must come to the conclusion it's locked. 

Chloe gets her keys out, still looking at Max like she can't believe she’s sitting in her truck. 

When she does finally open the door, she just gapes at her some more, unmoving. 

Max, rolls her eyes amused after a little longer of this. “Are you just going to stand there or get in your own truck?" 

Chloe quickly gets in, still with her eyes glued to the other girl, "Damn, I got chills!You're a magic ninja Max... That was amazeballs!" Grinning so big right now and bouncing a little too she asks, "How Max, how can you do that?" 

With slight hesitation, Max looks at Chloe for a moment, thinking whether she should tell her or not. 

‘ _She’s definitely reacted much more positively than my so-called friend did. And for all my negative vibes, of not caring about having any friends, it would actually be nice to have at least one person I could trust and share things with. Other than being the weird assed loner who people would rather spit on than have a laugh with._ ’ 

"Hey dude, um Max… you ok there?" 

"Hmm... oh yeah, sorry, just thinking." 

Chloe looks at Max a little concerned and hesitantly, but kind of eagerly asks, "That's cool. But erm, I mean, you're gonna tell me, yeah? I passed right? You can trust me." 

Max chuckles, "I guess we’re about to find out—" 

"Look, I know we just met. But you can trust me dude. I may seem like some hella loud mouth punk, I mean I am, but I can be trusted too. I can keep a secret, I swear! It's obvious you're not gonna just tell me somethin' small. And... I dunno, I feel like you might have saved my life today in the bathroom. I don't know how but I'm guessing what you tell me will have something to do with it." 

Max looks at Chloe for a moment. ‘ _She sounded really sincere, very excited yes, but sincere most of all.’ So, she decides that she’ll take a leap and trust this girl. ‘Partly because I think she needs to understand the danger she was in today and to not go head first against Nathan like that. But mostly I feel like I need to trust someone again and Chloe seems like she might be that person._ ’ 

Max turns to the eagerly awaiting face of Chloe and with a breath starts, "Right, so I'm just going to say it... I can control time—" 

Chloe snorts a laugh. “You sound high! That sort of thing doesn't happen in real life. Are you an assassin or something, a real-life ninja?" 

This has Max frowning a little, she’s not meaning to, it’s just hard. But she couldn’t of really expected to be believed just like that. 

Chloe just sits looking at Max, waiting for her to confirm what she said was bullshit and that yes, she’s a ninja. 

So Max tries again, with a little more of an explanation, "No Chloe, I'm not a ninja. I can actually control time, go back to the past, rewind what has happened and freeze time in place. I raise my hand and think as such and it just happens." 

And now they are back to silence as Chloe continues to sit there and stare at Max, unmoving and not blinking, with wide eyes. 

‘ _Huh, maybe I just froze time and didn't mean to, but everything outside is still moving._ ’ 

Max waves her hand in front of the other girls face. "Yo Chloe. You ok there?" But still she doesn't move so Max gives her shoulder a small push to see if she does anything. 

It seems to achieve something as Chloe now speaks, "Hu, ummm... Ha! You're jokin' right?" To which Max shakes her head at. "You're not jokin'?" 

"No, I'm not." 

"I see you're a geek with a wild imagination." 

"How do you think I done all the stuff I just did or saved you from getting shot and dying in the bathroom today?" 

"By reversing time? That's cra... zy... Wait a minute! Did you say dying, as in I died, you saw me die Max?" 

‘ _I hesitate for a moment with the almost vulnerable sound I heard in Chloe's voice. And her face has gone from the playful, you're insane but I want to believe you, to scared eyes and you’re yanking me, right?_ ’ 

"Max?" 

She doesn’t want to lie to Chloe so she tells her the truth, "I saw that freak pull his gun on you, moved you against the wall and shoot you. You fell to the ground instantly and I couldn't do anything to help you before you bled out. So, I took it all back and changed it." 

"I should be dead right now..." Chloe whispers in this faraway small scared voice and she looks paler than normal. 

"I, um..." Max fumbles, feeling sad and scared. So she does the only thing she can think of to make things right and starts to raise her hand. 

But Chloe stops her by grabbing Max’s hand and frowns at her. "Were you just gonna take it back?" 

"Yes." Is all Max can answer, feeling guilty. 

"Why?" Chloe asks, with hurt audible in her tone. 

It has Max feeling even more guilty. "... I'm sorry. It's just, you sounded freaked out and you looked scared. So, I was going to take it back so you weren't." 

"Well yeah, I am. You just told me I died and you saw it..." Chloe starts in that same small voice but then shakes her head. “But you can't do that. Just take stuff back. It's not fair to use it on me like that." 

She definitely does sound hurt now and it makes Max shrink in on herself as she mumbles, "I'm sorry Chloe... You're not mad at me, are you?" 

‘ _I glance at Max when she asks that and she looks really guilty, scared even, as she looks down._ ’ 

Chloe rubs her hand over her face and lets out a sigh, "It's fine Max and no I'm not mad at you... This is just some hella insane and crazy shit to get my head around." 

"I know it is.... But you believe, right? You don't think I'm just weird, well weirder than you already do and insane or something?" Max asks it really carefully, frightened to hear the other girls answer. 

Chloe smirks, "Yeah dude, I think you're hella weird!" 

"Oh..." Max whispers with hurt, eyes still cast down. 

‘ _I knew I shouldn’t have said anything! And now I’ve just alienated someone else who might of been something more to me than just a person who treats me like a weirdo—_ ‘ 

But before Max can have any other kinds of hateful thoughts about herself, Chloe says, "You are crazy weird. I mean, you rock up into my world, save my life from the fucking psycho, which by the way, I totally believe. Because even from the first time you said he would have shot me I felt this chill run through me and a really uneasy feeling inside, like I can feel it happening..." Chloe shudders again thinking about it but shakes it off, "You hella saved my life today Max, I'm still trippin' on that... And then you show up and blow my mind with your amazeballs time powers! So weird, insane and crazy you totally are Max. But I must be these too because I believe you." 

Max chuckles completely relieved, happier with what Chloe said. 

When she calms down, Max takes a breath then says quietly, with a whole load of gratitude, "Thank you so much Chloe, for believing me. It means a lot." 

"Sure dude. It's hard not to with all that stuff you done. Hmm... that reminds me, I have to check all the things, to make sure they're here, like you said. So, I could change my mind." Chloe teases, glad of the lighter atmosphere and getting Max to smile and even laugh. 

"Ok, go for it Price. It's all there though, even the stuff under your seat." 

Chloe looks to Max and the teasing tone she used in confusion, before realization hits her. "Shit!! You didn't, tell me you didn't Max?" 

Max laughs at that, "I can tell you that if you want me to Chloe? But I'm afraid it doesn't change anything." 

"Fuuuck!!!" Chloe groans with horrified embarrassment, head and hands on the steering wheel… 


End file.
